Financial international sanctions and cryptocurrencies. Challenges and solutions

Abstract

Like any other major legal institutions in international law, international sanctions were created to face the challenges of the analogue world, not those of the digital world. Today, when international sanctions are in the foreground, due to the war of aggression in Ukraine, it is necessary to investigate to what extent financial sanctions (as a type of international sanctions) are also applied to cryptoassets and cryptocurrencies. These two blockchain based assets and currencies represent a way to evade the financial sanctions regime imposed by United Nations, European Union, United States of America, United Kingdom and any other states or entities? Providing examples from the recent practice of the states, through the case study method, and studying the legal doctrine in the field, the article analyses the effects that the absence of an international regulation of cryptocurrencies can have on the efficiency and effectiveness of financial sanctions regimes and tries to find some solutions possible.